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Saturday night the number one seeded Colorado Mesa Mavericks (30-1) hosted the University Texas-Permian Basin Falcons for the semi final matchup in the NCAA Division two South Central region tournament. The Mavericks beat the Falcons 78-68.

Katrina Selsor scored the first point of Saturday night's semi, giving her over 1,000 points in her Colorado Mesa career. The senior missed her first free throw after being fouled, and made her second. All of the big three, Katrina Selsor, Sharaya Selsor, and Kelsey Sigl got in on the scoring act early on. Sigl had six points in the first six minutes.

The defensive assignments for the Mavs Saturday night would be Briannah Matthews, and Teisha King. Matthews and King both had stellar games the night before as they beat Abilene Christian.

“We just wanted to make it difficult for them. We just wanted to make them work a little bit”. Head Coach Taylor Wagner said of his team's defensive effort.

The Maverick defense was having a noticeably better game than their offense, thus they were able to keep UTPB's shooters at bay in the first half. Rather than Matthews and King being the Mavs main concern in the first half, Taniqua Ards stepped up and was leading the charge for the Falcons. Ards finished the game with a team high 20 points. Ards also registered five rebounds on the night. A lack of Maverick offense however, kept the game close throughout the half.

Effo Baker and Bruna Deichmann would both make big contributions in the final minutes of the half. Deichmann made a big three with just over a minute remaining, followed by Effo Baker taking the ball basket to basket for a layup and making the free throw after being fouled. Baker would be fouled in the last second of the half charging down the court, making both her free throws.

The second half began with Permian Basin in possession of the ball. Briannah Matthews would score the halves points, only to be answered back 15 seconds later by a layup from Kelsey Sigl.

The second half saw the reemergence of Teisha King. The Falcons shooter was taking more and making more shots in the games second half. King would end the night with 18 total points, most coming from the second half.

The Mavericks continually stretched their lead throughout the second half. As Texas-Permian Basin fought to stay in the game they would close the Mavs lead to four, but could never get even with the one seed on the scoreboard.

The Mavericks held on as the Falcons faulted in the final moments in order to win the semi-final match up.

“It was a hard fought game, they played us well. I don't think they backed down for 40 minutes”. Coach Wagner said after the game.

Sharya Selsor ended the game with 14 points against the Falcons. She also had four rebounds, with one steal for good measure. Katrina Selsor and Kelsey Sigl tied in points scored with 17 each. Sigil had six rebounds and one steal.

“Colorado Mesa is a good team” Falcons head coach Jerome Willis said after the game. “We came into this game expecting to win”.

In winning the semi final matchup over the Falcons, the Mavericks have earned their way to the regional championship game Monday night at 7:00p.m. where they will play host to the Midwestern State Mustangs. The winner of Monday night's game will travel to San Antonio, Texas to play in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.